On Welfare Queens

What!? No. That's asinine.

I keep seeing all of these hate graphics about poor people. They usually invoke the fantasy world wherein welfare queens receive free rent, free food, and can afford luxury items with the cash that they receive from the jobs that they don't have. It's pretty illogical, but the myth persists.

Personally, I'm really curious as to how people can tell when people are using food stamps, since it's a plastic card that looks and works exactly like the average debit card. How can you tell the difference between my brown CNB bankcard and someone else's brown SNAP card? How close are you folks getting to the people in front of you? Usually, I'm still unloading my cart while the person in front of me is checking out, and I can't really see what their card looks like, so all I can see is if they're using a check, a card, or cash.

So the next time you see a graphic like that, you should ask the poster, "Exactly how close are y'all getting, and why?".

A timely reminder...

A timely reminder about the importance of separating your religion from your government:

"I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute, where no Catholic prelate would tell the president (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference; and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the president who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

Banned Book Week

Remember, folks, read a banned book for Banned Book Week! We picked up And Tango Makes Three, with no problems. Also, here's a funny article about a few banned books.

About the Pledge of Allegience

I originally wrote this on Friday, October 15, 2010.  I am posting it here with minor edits, mainly for grammar.

Kevin is publicly shamed for his refusal to take an oath.

Yeah, that cartoon is cute. It shows someone who simply doesn't care in contrast to someone who cares so much that they gave their health, and was willing to give their life. It makes a point, and makes us feel good about being better than the lazy guy. It makes us feel proud of our veterans. (Although that pride doesn't seem to extend to caring for them, but that's a an entirely different post...) and it makes us feel patriotic. Yay!